Peter Giddy Guided Tours. October 2019. Addo Elephant Park; Tours around Port Elizabeth; Tsitsikamma; Garden Route.

Peter Giddy Guided Tours.   October 2019.  Addo Elephant Park; Tours around Port Elizabeth; Tsitsikamma; Garden Route.

Addo Elephant Park .... Algoa Lookout.  On 30th September 2019 I have these four ladies with me -- Franziska (Final year of masters in Civil Engineering and Svenja Customer service in a household appliance retailer) are from Germany and the two Nadine and Sandra are from Switzerland.

Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- Shore Excursions -- Addo Elephant and other Wildlife Reserves -- Garden Route.  Flowers of Namaqualand -- 

0027 (0) 82 55 03 714    Whatsup

peter.giddy@gmail.com

• Addo Elephant Park Day Visit and Night drive. 
• Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
• Daniel Cheetah Project
• Pumba; Shamwari; Amakhala; Kariega -- Day trips Private Reserves.
• Three day tour of Mountain Zebra Park. Graaff Reinet, Nieu Bethesda and Addo. 
• City Historical and Cultural Tours, 
• Horse riding for both experienced and inexperienced riders
• Hikes and Walks around Port Elizabeth (2 hour Nature and Coastal walks)
• Garden Route Adventure Tours (Zip Lines; Segway  in the Forest; Adventure Quad Biking; Bridge Walks; Bungy Jump; Knysna Elephant Park; Monkey Land and Birds of Eden; Big Cats Sanctuary; Oudtshoorn Cango Caves and Ostrich farms)
• Shore Excursions from Passengers ships
• Transfers. Airport; Hotel and Wildlife Reserve.
• Flowers of Namaqualand.  Seven days of adventure and exploring places and sights you never even knew existed.  History and natural beauty of the South West of South Africa
• Karoo to Garden Route. Six days of fun and activities.  Prince Albert; Swartberg Pass; Die Hell; Oudtshoorn; Prince Alfred pass; Plett and Tsitsikamma. 

Website --   petergiddyguidedtours.wordpress.com

For tours and bookings.. email me at.    peter.giddy@gmail.com

Contact me on Whatsup....  +27 (0) 825503174

Tuesday 1st October.  I run / walk 9km with Gaye and Mitch. Mike starts with us but leaves in Mount Road.  Our route is down to Dias and then up at the back of Collegiate.
I pick up Erich; Ilse and Hermine from Camp Fig Tree.  This is where Ruan from Addo is working.  It is on the way to Zuurberg Inn just after the very narrow part of the road.  We have a successful afternoon touring around PE before I drop them at the Windemere Hotel.
This was my first tour for Tourvest and I am very happy to be able to have this connection.

 Wednesday 2nd October we do the Bushbuck or Bosbok Trail in the Island nature reserve near to Seaview.

 This morning there are 14 walkers.  7 Men are Peter and Peter; Ralph is our leader with Jurgen as co leader. Ian is a man who I enjoy walking with.  He is interesting and funny. Keith and I spent some time talking today.  I learned that at age 36 he ran Comrades in just 9h.02min.  The seven ladies are Lydia with a friend, Rabia. Cecelia, Flo who is a regular walker, Judy, Debbie who seems to be a pretty regular walker recently. Eugene and Barbara are the only couple.

 Jurgen; Ian is hidden, Keith and Peter.

 This is the sign we follow during the walk.

 A fun group of men and women on the walk today.

The walk was 8km.  A fair amount of uphill at the start but nothing too strenuous.

 At one point we cross the Cows corner to Seaview road going under this bridge.

 The Yellowwood tree is quite impressive.

 Some other strange looking trees include this mangled branches and vines.

 Start on Trail One next to the office.  Then on to Trail two and three.  We skip trail 4 which would have meant a further 8km and take trail 5 to where we have parked our cars.

 We end the morning with a Braai.  I take tea much to everyones horror as they all seem to have beers. Ralph makes the braai to perfection.

 We sit in the Boma where everything is set out for us to enjoy an hour of relaxation.

I had Porkers while others had brought a variety of meats to braai.
Wednesday 2nd.
I start the morning with 1500m swim at Newton Park Pool with Megan.  I am finally getting back into some level of fitness since being back from the Flower Tours last month.
I join the Wednesday walkers for a 8km walk in the trails of the Island near to Seaview.  This is not an Island at all.  It is an inland forest area which is well kept by the Parks Department of PE.
Thursday 3rd.  I continue to receive inquiries for tours and Safaris.  This morning I go out to run despite the gusting wind.  I meet up with Gaye, Mitch and Adel but become separated from them so end up with just 5kay run.

Crossing the stream can be difficult for some.  Ashleigh, Sheilah's friend helped some the wobbly people across, walking in the water herself.

 In our group today is Karen our leader; Marie; Yvonne; Jenny who supplied us with Naartjies; Benny; Sandy; Nina; Liesl; Sheilah and Ashleigh; Alice; Lynne our organiser; Joe who makes the Braai; Golda and Rene and Hilda; .... We are nearly thirty walkers in total despite the strong overnight winds.

 The break at Dodds farm with Yvonne and Marie

 Relaxing for a few minutes ... Benny and Sandy

Naatjies for a snack with Nina; Liesl and Alice.

Sandy and Bennie overlooking the Baakens Valley
After the walk we go to the Victoria park Bowling greens where Joe makes a great fire and we braai our lunch.  I have porkers and some Rooibos tea.

This big bull elephant was really up close to us.

 A proud set of Tusks.

 Lions were about 100m from the car.  Here, if you look close, you can see four sleeping lions.

Leopard Tortoises mating.  This was an unusual sighting and  interesting to see.
Friday 4th.  Swimming 1500m with Megan.  Also in the pool this morning is Ronel and Maryke.  I think that they are all training for the Ocean Series.
I pick up from Island Vibe.... Johanna; Teacher from Germany; Demitto from Ukraine; Pierre from France going to volunteer at the Penguin sanctuary in Cape Town and Fiona doing a Teachers internship.  In Addo we have a successful day with plenty Elephant and up close many other wildlife except the Lions which are at a short distance away.

This evening Barbara and I go to the Creedence Clearwater Revival show at Old Grey.  Gino Fabbri on Drums.

Mike and I meet Susan at Hobie for a short run this morning.

Susan tells us the story of how Marcus nearly lost his life in the Fish River the previous weekend.

This is an amazing story of courage and strength.  A story of camaraderie in difficult situations.

Marcus and MC in their double canoe at the two day Fish River Canoe marathon.
Marcus and MC (their son) were on Marcus' 25th Fish River Canoe marathon.  They had a double canoe (K2) and this would be MC's first attempt at this grueling event.  There are over 700 boats on the river and they go off in groups of 50 from the start line.
They started off well enough and were in the mix when they approached a compulsory Portage where there is a disused and crumbling road bridge -- a dangerous section of the river, known well to Marcus from his previous experiences on the "Fish".  Unfortunately the area had not been cleared sufficiently to accommodate all the paddlers approaching the bank at one time and the congestion that arose as a result.
As they raced to beach their Canoe; another paddler bumped their canoe and the boat capsized.  Marcus and MC were both thrown into the fast moving water and had to scramble to reach the river bank.  MC managed to keep a hold of his paddle while Marcus lost his.   The canoe sank at the point where the old bridge is now completely broken in two and cannot be crossed.  With the fast flowing water this becomes an incredibly dangerous section. Debris, branches and trees dams up against the pillar of the bridge and Marcus was caught up in this mess.  He went under and desperately tried to find footing while becoming entangled in the branches and the force of the water was dragging him under and down stream.
A K3 was nearby and, while one of the paddlers was reluctant to render assistance, sanity prevailed and the other two insisted that they help Marcus.  At this point Marcus was fighting for his life; to stay above water.  He and MC are both strong swimmers and yet the power and force of the river was winning the battle.  Marcus recalls how he felt a hand and arm to grab onto and was pulled to relative safety.  Finally after what must have seemed a long battle, he managed to crawl to the river bank.

Marcus and MC on the broken bridge.  Impossible to cross over to where Susan was waiting.
Susan was seconding the two men, and would not normally have been at this point, as it is soft sand and inaccessible to vehicles. But she was in Marcus' 4 x 4 Volvo and had decided to try and find her men.  She arrived on the scene as the drama was unfolding and found the two of them on the other side of the river.  The bridge was of no use as a way to reunite the men with Susan. Marcus and MC tried to recover the canoe which was by now completely submerged and entangled in the branches below water. So after a while of trying to rescue their craft they had to abandon their search and leave it there for all time.  The canoe was now a complete loss and considered to be irrecoverable.
Eventually the two men walked up stream and were able to swim across to where they had asked Susan to remain and wait for them.

That evening, in the main tent, Paul Lynch (Porky) learned of their mis-adventure and offered them the use of a back up canoe that he had brought.  This was a canoe that had not been used for some years and its condition was an unknown.  But Marcus and MC accepted the offer and were able to complete the second day of the event even if they were not considered to be official finishers.

After we heard this story I was reminded of another time when Marcus was in a paddling race out at sea off the Summerstrand Beach.  A man who was, at the time, well known in Port Elizabeth was in distress having lost his ski.  And it was Marcus who went to his rescue.  Stanford had to hang onto the ski while another paddler called for help.  It was some hours before a helicopter was summoned and the NSRI rescued Stanford.  And had it not been for Marcus; Stanford could well have lost his life.

 Wells Estate Parkrun on Saturday 5th October.

 I meet up with Margot and Edie who are volunteers this morning.

 Ally; Elizma and Margot -- Volunteers.

 Chatting at the end of the run with .  Len and Sue.  Hanelie was the photographer

Dave and his dog while Edie and Margot sort out the Number placing tags.

Wells Estate parkrun results for event #64. Your time was 00:25:10.

Congratulations on completing your 77th parkrun and your 3rd at Wells Estate parkrun today. You finished in 10th place and were the 10th male out of a field of 60 parkrunners and you came 2nd in your age category VM65-69. Take a look at this week's full set of results on our website. Congratulations on setting a new Personal Best at this event! Congratulations on your fastest time this year.

I take a ride out to Wells Estate to do their 5k parkrun.  Meet up with Dave and Edie Dore.  Marshall Hannelie; Margotl; Eizma ; and Ally.  Have a good hard run and almost make the 5min a kay time.

 This afternoon I have a City Tour with Arnd and Johanna from Dubai who are here for the EVRT Electric Vehicle Road trip. Campenile climb and light house climb.  No trouble to them.   Saw whales from Sacramento.  Show them around the City and township and then Schoenies.

 Bertus and Christine start the 5 or 2.5k myrun at the Humewood Golf Course.  It is a bit windy this morning .  The nice thing is that 50% of the distance is with the wind on our backs.

The last couple of hundred meters are uphill, in soft grass and with the west wind blowing into our faces.  So we are happy to have completed the distance.  This morning my time is 29.15.  I am 4th of 13 runners this morning. 

 Joe Staats and I go back to fetch what we thought was the tail enders.

 Rose and Linda are enjoying the run this morning.  They ran the Knysa 21k together this year.

 Rose and Linda scanning their wrist band to record a finish.

Linda is delighted to have completed the myrun 5kay at Humewood Golf Course.

Di and Megan Nelson come over to talk to Barbara about Herbalife and nutrition.  Megan is completing her Matric year at Collegiate.

Driving through to Plett we see a typical South African scene.  a couple in the back of the van ahead of us looking quite happy.
Monday 7th.  Swimming 1500m with Megan.  I meet Jo Tucker who shares a lane with me.
I pick up Ron and we drive through to Plett to visit Christine Spence who has now moved back to South Africa after staying in London for most of her adult life.  We spend an hour chatting to her and meet the people of the home where she is staying.
This evening we resume our Cell Group meetings.  Cronje and Claudine v Zyl; Rob Ermes and Hannes Zeelie.

Tuesday 8th.  Running 9k with Chris; Antoinette; Stefany and Gaye.
Wednesday 9th.  Swimming 1800m with Megan.  Also in the pool... Ronel; Shereen; Ken; Maryke and Almarie.

 A nasty Sewage overflow.  I reported to the authorities later.

 Bottom of 9th ave.  We have come from the West.

 At the bottom of 9th Ave Walmer is Dodds farm

 Crossing the stream with care

Unknown Beetle
Hiking with the Wednesday walkers.   Today Flo is our leader.   I meet up with Derick Middleton for the first time in years.... So we spend some time at the back catching up.
In the group today we are 21 hiking: Flo; Des; Paul; Dave and Heather; Jenny; Cecelia; Maria (Flo's cousin); Peter; Peter; Errol and Mo; Steve; Marjorie;  Debbie;  Keiko; Lydia; Martie; Derick; Errol and Mo.
Thursday 10th.  Starting to feel a bit of Left Knee issues.  Nothing that is unbearable.  But worrying.
I run 9km with Chris; Gaye; Mike; Stefany; Antoinette and Mitch.

This board explains the trails and options.  We plan to add on the Igolomi trail to the next hike that we do.  Perhaps do it backwards finishing off with the Igolomi trail.

 We turn left to Destades.  Igolomi (Knysna Loerie) is the one we would like to try as an add on.

 Our group of 7 walkers ... Sandy; Sheilah; Jenny; Bennie; Karen and Nina.

 Jenny and Sandy at the Silvermine lookout.

At our break with Bennie; Karen and Nina
This morning I walk the Van Stadens Nature Reserve forest walk.  With Karen our leader; Bennie; Sheilah; Nina; Jenny and Sandy. 
This is truly a great walk.  Through indigenous forest.  Right close to PE. You do not have to go all the way to Harkerville; Knysna; Tsitsikamma; Storms River Mouth -- to experience these amazing walks. We did the 9km Destades Trail.

Ally is at the Lydia HK (Huis Kommittee) year end function.

Girls having fun.
Friday 11th.  I wake up totally not awake.  So I message Megan saying that I do not feel like getting up and need more sleep.  But meanwhile I go to the bathroom and have a wash and put my Cossie on.  Then I look at my phone and Megan has agreed but saying that she was keen to swim. In the end we go swimming and have a great swim,.  I manage 1500m so have done my minimum of 4500m for the week. And it puts us in the right frame of mind for the rest of the day.  For me this morning put things into perspective.  We depend on each other to get motivated for our morning swims.  We have managed to swim three times for the past two weeks which is our goal.

 On occasions it is possible to get really close to these African Giants.

 Halstead farm where did the pick up today

 This bull became a little aggressive with us.

Jens; Moritz; Michel and Jutta at Jacks where we had our lunch.
I pick up the Holstein Family from the Halstead farm in Addo.  Jutta, Jens, Moritz and Michel (Michael).  Moritz is volunteering at a school in Gans baai as a sports master teaching hockey and soccer.  His family are here to visit him.
We have a great day in Addo despite the slow start  in the North of the park.. The South makes up for it as we see the full spectrum of animals.

 The start of the BUCO 10kay.  Helen on the left.

Start of the Buco 10km event.

Me at the Buco 10k

 At the end of the run a small group of Achilleans. Tom; Ann; Sam;  Craig;  Lesley;  Cathy;  Liz;  Peter.

 Susan is at the Grassroof Parkrun.

Cristin and Peter finishing Grassroof parkrun.

I run the parkrun with Cristin.

Sardinia Bay parkrun results for event #130. Your time was 00:34:42.

Congratulations on completing your 78th parkrun and your 12th at Sardinia Bay parkrun today. You finished in 79th place and were the 55th male out of a field of 392 parkrunners and you came 2nd in your age category VM65-69

Wietze run in Durbanville.  Chris; Aaron; Zara and Mia doing volunteer work at the watering station.
Saturday morning.  I go to Walker Drive BUCO where the 10k event is starting.  I meet up with Michael -- we have a coffee which they are giving free to all runners.  Chris; Gerald; Elmarie; Sue are all doing duty this morning.  Cristin and Andrew are in PE to install a TV Cabinet. They come and run the event as well.   Andrew in placed in the top 20 athletes.  Cristin and I run just under 6 min a kay at about 59 minutes.  I am not sure of the race course.  It is my first time to run this event.
After the run we go straight across to the Grassroof parkrun and make it in time for the event start.  Andrew charges off while Cristin and I run a more leisurely pace.  I think about 36 minutes.  After the parkrun we have a coffee and sandwich. 

Emily and Annabelle are at Eilat for a water weekend.

Saturday 12th October 2019.
Remember the day.
Eliud Kipchoge... Kenyan.  Born 1984.  runs 42k under 2 hours.  He was in Vienna for a world record breaking attempt.  He had seconds and pacers and so did not do it in race conditions. But he ran on his own feet start to finish and completed the event in 1.59.40.
Anne Haug.  German.  Who stayed in our home in September 2018 when the world half Ironman Champs was being held here; won the Ironman World Championship event in Kona today.

Robberg Beach in Plettenberg Bay.
Sunday 13th.
I have a two day TsiTsikamma Adventure Tour with Klaus; Judith and Philip from Germany who are in South Africa for an environmental conference.
Our first day is really fun filled with visits to the Storms River Bridge and the Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve. Then we are able to walk with Elephants before ending our afternoon with a walk on the Plettenberg Bay Robberg peninsular.
Monday 14th.  After a run along the Robberg beach we leave for Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves before returning to Port Elizabeth.

Meanwhile Nicky runs the Cape Town Chapmans Peak half in 2.22.

 Chapmans Peak half marathon in Cape Town

 Looking across to Hout Bay

Nicky; Madri and her running friends.
Nicky runs the Cape Town Chapmans Peak half in 2.22.
In Cape Town she also experiences the strong winds on Chapmans Peak.  This is a really tough event with absolutely no flat sections.  You are running up or down hill the whole 21k.  And the wind makes it even more unpredictable.  However Nicky has been training hard the weeks leading up to this event.  Running up to 40k a week and focusing on Hill Training.

Chris and Mike ... They join me occasionally for a bit of running.
Tuesday 15th.
I meet up with the Walking Group and, although my legs are tired,  do a bit of running while the others walk.

Chris and his family looking across the Domkrag Dam outlook.

 This Lion had been sleeping when two Elephants walked past and he decided to move away before returning to his shady spot for more much needed rest.

 Lunch with Claudia; Chris; Christopher; Cecilia and Caroline.

A "Unicorn" Kudu.  Probably lost the one horn in a fight.
I pick up Christian; Claudia; Caroline; Christopher and Cecilia... A German family; from the Homestead farm in Addo for a day visit to Addo.  We have a good day with sightings --- Lots of Elephants; Zebra; Buffalo and even a male lion that was sleeping behind a bush; but when the Elephants walked past and noticed him, they became agitated and chased him a short distance away.  After the elephants had moved off he returned to his shady spot for more sleeping

 Wednesday walking group.  Today there are over 40 walkers   And it is Errol's Birthday.  So the traditional sing song takes place.

 Cape Recife Lighthouse walk.  This is a great beach walk that takes us past the Lighthouse and around to the WW2 Observation Post.

 We stop for a Snack before leaving the beach for our walk back to the cars.

 Sandy Zoetmulder joins us for the first time. Flo is her sister in law.

 Final short walk on the Cape Recife road past the Penguin Rehab Center.

At the cars we celebrate Errol's birthday with some cake and beverages.
Wednesday hike is from Pine Lodge to Cape Recife returning past the old War Observation post.
Today we are 41 walkers.  This is always a popular walk but with the weather being perfect we have a full house of walkers.  Some of the names I can remember:  Eugene; Alwyn; Julian; Keith; Martie; Dennis; Jim the biker; Debbie; Debbie; Danny and Peter; Lydia and Rabia; Ian; Des; Paul; Flo and Sandy Z.  Keiko; Marjorie; Val -- these three were on the Flower Tour with me in September.  Val; Derick; Sheilah; Errol and Mo.  It is Errol's 80th today.  Aida with Derrick; Judy; Dave and Naomi.
I pick up a black bag full of plastics and other rubbish on the beach.

I am not sure exactly how Strick the people are with their meal preparations.  I walked to the Police Station today to fetch Ally's Clearance certificate.  It turned out that the Police were less Strict than the Halaal cooking alleged to be.  I must go back next week as the offices close at 3pm.

Nicky runs a Ten Kay in just under an hour.  This is her second race in the past week.  Nicky is super fit at present having kept up the training with her running group.

  Cathy has started a new job and is in Melbourne Australia for training.

 My guests today are Caroline (Caro); Waltraub.  They are from Germany.  Caro is a Project manager for IT and Waltraub works in a coffee shoppe.  The Honeymoon Couple are Anthony (Construction) and Terri and Gym instructor from London.

 Today was the hottest day October has yet seen. And certainly the hottest since January when we had a reading of 49 degrees.  The most we registered today was 47 degrees.

 The Hartebeest .... a wonderful strong looking antelope.

 When we see this family crossing the road at Marion Baree; it is clear that the numbers of elephant continue to grow with a small baby and this big family.

On the Peasland Plains we find large herds of Harebees; Zebra and Warthog all mingling together
Thursday 17th.  I fetch Caroline and Waltraub from the bus stop and then Anthony and his new bride, Terri from the Paxton.  We have a great day in Addo except for the extreme heat.  I have the air conditioner running flat out for most of the day.  The heat means that the animals tend to congregate around the water holes so we have clear sightings all day long.

 A jackal eating some scraps and rubbing himself in the smelly stuff.  They seem to like to make themselves as smelly as possible.
Saturday morning.  I run at the beach front with Mike.  We do a slow 8kay.
I then pick up Zuzana from Deer park. We have a reasonably good day in Addo.  She is Slovakian living in Germany. Did the Portuguese Camino last year in April and has a daughter studying psychology in Stellenbosch for a few months.

Sunday morning.  Barbara and I both have flat tyres. I change Bararba's tyre at home and then pick up Nicholas and Patricia.  Argentinians. She is a Pathologist and he is a repair man for medical equipment. On the N2 I hear a noise on the tyres and on close inspection find I metal fragment lodged in the tyre.  Nicholas and Patricia both are willing assistants and we change the tyre in no time.

 This Elephant is known as Terry. One of the biggest Ellies in Addo.  We find him and another younger bull (who growls at us as he walks past the car) at Ngulube.  Terry is recognisable by his huge size and tusks as well as the hole in his right ear.

 Nicholas and Patricia are great company on the Addo Safari today.

We find this small herd of 16 Cape Buffalo near to Lismore.

And so the Weeks continue.
We now have an additional person in our home.  Chad is a Grey boy.  Struggling at home.  And has move into our house.
Monday... Swimming 1300m with Megan and Jo and Shereen. The three of them are all good swimmers.  I kind of plod along. Not trying to keep up or to imitate their super efficient tumble turns; just enjoying being in the water, trying to swim at a reasonable pace but not putting pressure on myself.
My Combi is in for Service.  I take the two tyres in to Supa Quick for repairs.

Tuesday morning walk / run with Mikel Gaye; Mitch; Stefany; Liesl and Chris.  I manage to run most of the 8k.

On tour with me today is Daniel and Leoni ...

Hartebeest.  Strong powerful looking Antelope.

Weighing in at 700kg this is a member of the Big Five
We have a great day in Addo seeing a couple of special sightings.  A Brown Hyena at Woodlands and Two Lions at Gorah Kloof.  They were mainly asleep and guarding their Zebra kill.
Tuesday 22nd.  It is a shared birthday ... Blake in NZ is 7 years old and Christian in Cape Town is 17.

Wednesday walking is the Upper Guinea Fowl Trail today.

 Paul and Robin leading the group

 Crossing the streams made easy with use of the bridges created by the Baakens Trust

 Lydia and Rabia followed by Elaine and Serry

 Elaine; Serry; Dave; Maria; Sandy; Flo; Richard.

 Gladiolus on the valley trail

 Peter falls a little behind so Rob and I get a bit lost for a while.

 After the snack break we turn around and do the trail in reverse.

Bridges over the Baakens River make crossing easy.  But slow in a big group like today.
On the walk today we are 35 walkers.  Robin is the hike leader and Rob the self appointed tail ender. Others on the walk are: Peter and Peter; Patrick and Denise; Paul the driving force behind alien eradication in the Valley; Serry who is new to the group; Jenny And Julian; Keith and Ian; Debbie; Eugene; Richard our historian; Elaine is not new but has not been hiking for some time; Ralph;  Des who is up front with Robin and who helps the water crossings; Lydia and Rabia; Lesley; Errol and Mo; Flo; Sandy and Maria (Zoetmulders); Val; Judy; Martie; Sheilah; Steve; Celia and Lisa; Dave. That is 34 so maybe I missed someone.
This walk starts at the End of Cassia Drive in Sunridge park.  We go down into the valley and then walk in an Easterly direction. We cross the stream a number of times before climbing on the south side of the valley up and over a cleared area.  Only one of the crossings does not have a bridge over it.  These crossings and the climbs tend to slow the walk down.  But in the end we walk for 2.5 hours.
Today we walk an out and back trail.  It is my first time to walk this trail and I really enjoy the outing.  We see a small brown snack cross the pathway.  It has a dark V on its head.  Nobody seems to be able to identify the snake.

 Musth, from Persian: literally drunk; is a periodic condition in bull (male) elephants characterized by highly aggressive behavior and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones.

 Florian and Sandy at Jacks.

Zebras in a small family
Thursday 24th
A beautiful morning after a couple of windy days.  At 7am; I pick up Florian and electrical engineer building machines to install the engine of the car into the body and Sandy who is in her final year of Medical School and will, after another year of hospital internship, be qualified as a GP.  They are staying at Bushy Park farm.
We have a great day at Addo.  Especially Hapoor where the Elephants are all around us including this huge bull in Musth who is upsetting the females.

After Lunch we go to Kragga Kamma and after some searching we are able to find the Giraffe; Rhino and most of the other animals in this reserve.

The group of Aspen Club members plus a few others who run their 10k helpers run from Forest Hill.  Brett had an excellent run as did Kelly. In this group are Cindy; Angie; David and Daniel.  Helen is the lady doing the admin.

Michael and I ran the whole distance together. About 59 minutes.

Helen did the Admin. Kelly and Michael both had solid runs.

10k Aspen club helpers run.  Dad on the right.

Michael and Peter finishing the 10kay an hour later.
Once I have dropped Florian and Sandy back at Bushy Park I meet up with a small group of Aspen Club runners and we do a 10k helpers run from Forest Hill.  I run start to finish with Michael Botha.  Also there this afternoon -- Bret and Kelly Holmes; Daniel; David and Angie.

Friday.... Addo Safari with Michael; Petra; Hanna and Daan from Germany.
Saturday 26th October 2019

Sunset behind our house. 

 Wells Estate Park Run on Saturday 26th.

 The route is the A route .. On the beach and then back on the promenade.

Wells Estate parkrun results for event #67. Your time was 00:29:08.

Congratulations on completing your 79th parkrun and your 4th at Wells Estate parkrun today. You finished in 12th place and were the 9th male out of a field of 74 parkrunners and you came 1st in your age category VM65-69. .  At the start of the Wells Estate parkrun.  Finishing with Sue... A friend of Adrienne.  Charlene is a regular at Wells Estate.  We ran the Beach and Promenade A Route.  Perfect weather except it became steamy hot on the return so I took off my shirt. Edie was marshaling and follows the last people in. .

 Addo with Saskia and Kai from Germany and Chesnay and Isa from Netherlands.  This is Domkrag water hole where we find an elephant and the two Lions (Jack and Jill -- Brother and Sister) not far from the parking lot. There is Chaos here with a traffic jam of cars and guides.

One of the few elephants with a collar
The Rugby World Cup in Japan.  In the Semi Finals are NZ playing England today and SA plays Wales on Sunday.
England beat New Zealand 3 tries to 1 (19 to 7) in Japan in the Semi Final.
Saturday morning I am a bit naughty as I decide to run the Wells Estate parkrun before fetching my guests in Addo Village.  So I have to leave immediately after the run.  I quickly have a parking lot wash and put on my tour guide outfit.  I make it in good time and we have  a great day in Addo.  At the reception I see one of the guides (Simni) talking to some guests.  It turns out that they are at the wrong gate. So they join me for the day.... It all works out well. I talk to Mike from Dungbeetle and he agrees to refund them.

Sunday 27th October 2019
South African Springboks play Wales in the Rugby World Cup Finals.
Sarah from Mosaic calls me to do a Tsitsikamma day tour with 8 x Brazillians staying at the Beach Hotel.  Marilette is their leader.

Monday -- Bernhard; Dani and daughter Anna; Dani's sister Sabine and daughter Anja.  Pick up at Rosedale from Keith Finnemore and then we have a really amazing day in the reserve.

Boris and Angeique have a long range lens and are able to capture the TWINS which were born in September I think.

Tuesday 29th with Boris and Angelique from Germany working in BMW.  We have a great day with sightings all the main animals. Addo is truly a wonderful park.  Especially for Elephant Sightings.

Wednesday 30th.  I walk with the group at Sardinia bay.  today in the group there are about 24 of us -- Keith and Julian; Robin and Des; Keiko and Marjorie; Cheryl and her mother Penny; Dave; Celia; Flo; Andre ex PPECB; Alwyn; Jim and Jimmy; Lydia and Rabia; Ian; Debbie; Eugene; Dennis and I think a couple more who I did not recognise. The wind is nasty and I end up at the back with Cheryl and her mother Penny.  Penny is really struggling so we turn around early.  After the walk I go to the Newton Park pool where I have a good steady swim of 2000m.  I have a list of chores for the day which I happily tick off.

Wednesday evening ... Chris and Elmarie join us for an evening with David Muller.  He relates the story of the majestic elephants and then takes the part of Oom Schalk Louwrens.  A great evening's entertainment.

Thursday 31st October 2019.  I take Marina from Russia for a Hiking Tour at the Van Stadens Flower Reserve.